


peeking at sunset

by sailortenoh



Category: Fire Emblem Heroes, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Comfort/Angst, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route Spoilers, Gen, Hegemon Husk, implied silver snow!edelgard, implied unrequited edelth, mentioned alfonse and anna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-26
Updated: 2019-10-26
Packaged: 2021-01-03 10:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21177575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sailortenoh/pseuds/sailortenoh
Summary: the summoning ruin can bring any hero into askreven the ones one would hope they'd never have to see





	peeking at sunset

**Author's Note:**

> i've been wanting to do Something with hegemon edelgard since i beat blue lions, and after a friend (who actually came up with the title for this) and i were theory crafting what she'd be like if she got added to feh, i wanted to try writing how both edelgards would react to actually seeing her. 
> 
> still waiting on timeskip!edie to get added to feh, intsys

Edelgard had never once had the privilege of witnessing a summoning since her arrival in Askr. From what she had gathered from Prince Alfonse, it was considered an almost sacred ritual for The Order of Heroes, one that was typically reserved for the summoner herself and the commanding officers of the order.

So it took her by surprise when Kiran had invited her to a summoning that morning during tea.

“Summoner, are you quite certain about this? As much as an honor as it would be, I’m not sure what could possibly be gained from being present for a simple summoning.”   
  
Kiran shook her head, lowering her cup of tea back down to the table. “Absolutely. I know you probably don’t have anything like this back in Fódlan, but I think you’ll at least learn a good deal about just what constitutes as a hero.”   
  
Edelgard lips pulled into a slight smirk, taking a sip from her own tea. It was a blend she was especially familiar with, bergamot. “You wouldn’t have happened to have chosen this particular blend as a way to make me more agreeable to your proposition, would you Summoner?”   
  
“Just a coincidence, but I won’t complain if it ended up helping.” The pink tint to her cheeks betrayed her words, the two continuing on with their prior conversation before the summoner rose from her seat.

“I’ll have to make arrangements with Anna to allow you to accompany me, but plan on about an hour after noon?”

“Very well, though if you keep me waiting I won’t let you off the hook so easily.”

Kiran smiled. “Glad to hear it.”

* * *

Edelgard had arrived at the door to the summoning hall rather early, giving a friendly wave to anyone who happened to have passed by, with Kiran arriving just ten minutes shy of their agreed time. The heir apparent was about to scold the summoner when she noticed she wasn’t alone. Kiran was accompanied by… another Edelgard. Or rather an Edelgard summoned from a time after her own, a time where she had already started her war in hopes of unifying Fódlan and destroying the Church of Seiros. 

“I wasn’t aware that you’d invited another to accompany us, Summoner.” The younger Edelgard said, though her eyes remained glued to her future self.    
  
“Neither was I. You wouldn’t happen to be planning something, would you Summoner?”   
  
Kiran just sheepishly laughed, her cheeks tinting pink just as they had earlier at tea. “Well, just think of it as a surprise! And hey, I’m sure you’re better company than Hubert, right?”

The older Edelgard let out a soft laugh. “Fair enough, I suppose. As much as I value his companionship, I would be lying if I said his constant presence wasn’t overbearing at times.” 

The emperor-to-be laughed in return, knowing all too well what her future self was referring to. “In any case, I would think it’s time we got down to why we were brought here in the first place, especially after the time you wasted getting here, Summoner.”   
  
“Hey, I was dealing with my own Hubert problems! Just convincing him to let me have  _ tea _ with you today without him there took half an hour!” Kiran retorted, opening the doors to the summoning hall, the two red garbed nobles following close behind her.

Despite having been summoned in this very place in the past, both women had never truly gotten a good look at the hall in their time there. It was honestly rather modest, simply a veranda jutting out from the main castle with a shallow fountain pool surrounding the summoning ruin. Standing near the ruin itself were Prince Alfonse and Commander Anna, who’d no doubt been there quite a while already preparing for the summoning session. As the two women took in the scenery, Kiran had already lifted her hood over her head and prepared to fire Breidablik towards the hole in the summoning ruin.

With a quick firing of the weapon, both women’s eyes were drawn to the smoke now surrounding the ruin, the figure of a young man garbed in blue armor appearing from within it. He was easily recognized as Prince Marth of Altea, someone the elder Edelgard had gotten the chance to acquaint herself with recently. The ideals he held were noble, though they seemed too much like Dimitri’s for her liking.   
  
‘A pity’ she’d thought to herself, ‘he’d have made an exemplary ally, would the circumstances allow it.’

A few more rounds were fired, familiar and unfamiliar faces alike greeting them before both women felt their hearts drop in their chests. The newest shadow in the smoke was much larger than what they’d seen thus far, and while it wasn’t uncommon for some heroes to be much larger than others, the silhouette that came into focus made the emperor’s blood chill, her younger self hardly better off.

“This… shouldn’t be possible…” 

The figure that now stood before them was unmistakably Edelgard, the hair and crown erasing any doubt of that, but with how tall she stood and the grotesque form her body had taken, one had to wonder what had happened to her. The younger Edelgard felt as if something was caught in her throat. Was this the price to pay for ambitions? Her future self was from a time before the war’s end, so not even she could have possibly been aware of what fate awaited her, yet the fear she saw in her eyes was one of familiarity. She knew exactly what this being was.

There was silence in the room for a good few moments. No one knew quite how to respond to such a creature being summoned. While Kiran had certainly summoned some godly beings and corrupted souls in the past, not even they could compare to the sight of whatever  _ this  _ was. This was the first time the summoner had felt a true sense of fear at the sight of someone she had summoned, her arm still holding up Breidablik while her eyes were locked with the soulless eyes of the monster before her.

“Summoner, send it back.”

Kiran turned her head towards the source of the voice, seeing the older Edelgard brandishing a dagger towards the creature, her younger self attempting to put on a brave face, though the fear in her eyes was all too noticeable.

“I will not ask you again, Summoner. Send that… thing, back to where it came from.”   
  
“Edelgard-”

“ _ Just do it! _ ” She snapped back, a twinge of fear present in her voice.   
  
Kiran quickly obliged, firing her weapon at the beast, the blast enveloping it in a bright light before it vanished without a trace. 

Before another word could be said, the emperor took her past self by the hand, turning to the other heroes who had been summoned prior.   
  
“The three of them will brief you on your current situation. In the meantime,” she turned to her past self, her expression growing somber “...we need to talk.”

* * *

“You knew what that was, didn’t you?”   
  
The two women were seated in the older Edelgard’s chambers, seated next to each other on her bed. The emperor was silent following her younger self’s question, prompting her to rephrase her question.   
  
“Why did that  _ thing _ look like us?”

A deep sigh came from the older woman, turning to face her past self. “Because it  _ was _ us. It’s… my final trump card to win the war.”

Edelgard was silent for a moment before asking another question of her future self. “...what happens in the future to lead to us… to me, transforming into such a creature?”   
  
“That I don’t know.” She responded, shaking her head. “As I’ve told you before, my time is one during the war. All I can do is assume that that Edelgard… was led astray from the goals she sought to achieve. Perhaps... she even lost someone most precious to her.” 

“The professor…” The heir apparent sighed, looking up to herself. “Are they not with you in your time?”

“At one point, yes. But… not anymore.”

“...I see.” Edelgard didn’t press any further, knowing she’d most likely only dig up painful memories. She was fortunate enough to have the professor leading the Black Eagles, though as for what her future self’s relationship with them was she hadn’t a clue.

There was silence between the two before the emperor spoke up once more.

“I know we’re doomed to forget all that has occurred here in Askr once we return home, but do remember this, Edelgard. Don’t be afraid to rely on others in your time of need. Your classmates in the Black Eagles… they care for you more than you may realize.”

The young woman looked back at the emperor, nearly about to ask another question when she felt a hand rest upon her own.   
  
“Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”


End file.
